Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet 10 years ago today. While many grieved the loss of the ninth planet, we’re now learning more than ever about this ball of ice and its faraway neighborhood at the edge of the solar system.
So, what ended Pluto’s run as a planet? The International Astronomical Union, or IAU, defines a planet by three qualities:
1. Orbits the Sun
2. Big enough for gravity to shape it into a sphere (which is called “hydrostatic equilibrium”) Read more about Learning from Pluto as a Dwarf Planet

Collections-based research involves a wide variety of people interested in vastly different scales of space and time--from population genetics in mice to global climate change to galaxies across the universe Read more about Video: Fields of Thought

CSI Meteorites: I guess you could say this show is.... astronomical. Special thanks to Jim Holstein for helping out with this episode! and letting me hold a PIECE OF MARS. Read more about Meteorites From Spaaaaaace!